The Proposition
by marina eys
Summary: Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy, both bitter from their previous breakups, are devastated when they find out that their exes are getting married – to each other. So they team up by pretending they’re completely in love at the wedding of course. DG
1. Wallowing

**-The Proposition-**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing affiliated with the Harry Potter series – it all belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling. I wish it did but unfortunately it's not. So please don't sue.

**Summary: **_Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy, both bitter from their previous break-ups, are both devastated when they find out that their exes are now getting married – to each other. What are they to do? Well team up, pretend they're together and are completely in love at the wedding of course. DracoGinny. This story takes place six years after Ginny and seven years after Draco have left Hogwarts. _

**Author's Note: **I know, not another story. Though this one isn't going to be too long and should be finished fairly quickly. Please review!

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

_Wallowing_

_-_

Draco Malfoy leaned back into his office chair at the Ministry of Magic. He closed his grey eyes momentarily. Today had been a tough one. As an auror his life often was and it was only in a few rare moments that he had the chance to relax. This all changed though when in burst through his office Blaise Zabini, fellow auror and pain-in-the-ass extraordinaire.

Malfoy mentally groaned. _What did he want now?_ The answer to this he soon found out.

"Okay, that's it Malfoy. You must stop this moping business this instant. You're far too young to let yourself fall to pieces. And over Pansy Parkinson for Merlin's sake."

Malfoy cringed at the mention of his ex-fiancé, something that was noticed eagerly by the insistent Blaise. "There, you see what I mean! It's almost been a year now. You need to move on. She certainly has." Blaise's blue eyes flashed excitedly in his dark face.

_It was true enough_, Malfoy supposed. He'd only read a few months in the _Daily Prophet_ after she broke off the engagement that she was engaged again – and to Harry Potter! What the hell happened there he had no idea. Really, it was one thing to get over childish rivalries, but then to do a complete turn around and fall for _Scarface_ (in preference to a Malfoy too) was quite another.

Blaise waved a small white piece of paper in front of his face.

"Look, I know you got this and you're _going_. Alright?"

This time Malfoy did actually groan when he saw the piece of paper that he was referring to. True he had been given one; Pansy seemed to want to rub his loss in his face for some reason. Hadn't she already done enough? It was a wedding invitation, tastefully covered in gold writing.

Yes, he had been invited. And as of yet he hadn't replied. But still, the wedding was to be held in another month. Draco reminded his best friend of that fact.

"The wedding may be in a month, but the RSVP is today." Blaise groaned, exasperated. "And I know you know that."

Malfoy shrugged. "So?"

"So? So? So you've got to say yes today. No, now actually."

Malfoy leaned back further into his chair. _What are the chances of Zabini suddenly disappearing and leaving me alone?_

And he couldn't believe it when less than five minutes later, he sent out an owl carrying his reply.

He'd said yes.

"I'm going to get a drink." He muttered and stormed out the door, not caring about the tonne of work he had to get through.

Blaise raised his dark eyebrows in amusement. The wedding was certainly going to be very interesting.

_Very._

* * *

A few hundred metres away Ginny Weasley was undergoing a similar turmoil. After all these years she'd finally heard from Harry again, and it was only to invite her to his wedding. And to Pansy Parkinson! What the hell was with that? 

Ginny sat slumped in the local pub, a cold glass of whiskey in her hand. She must've looked quite a sight. Tears were rolling down her smooth pretty face and her lovely mass of red hair was all in disarray. She wanted to _die._ Or that could be the alcohol talking.

"Do you know, how much I loved him?" she sobbed to the poor bartender in front of her. He in turn prepared for her yet another whiskey.

"He clearly doesn't deserve yer." He said gruffly.

"We were going to get married and everything. But then he told me that he couldn't handle the commitment. It was too much pressure for him t-to handle." She hiccupped. It had only been two years but he suddenly seemed that he could now handle the commitment after all… but to somebody else.

And now she had to go to the wedding. Her whole family was (which explained why Ginny herself was invited) and they'd force her to go. They still saw Harry regularly even if Ginny constantly made excuses to avoid doing so. He was practically family to them – why should they immediately cut him off from them just because of a break-up?

Ginny downed another glass before stumbling off from her chair and asking if she could use the bar's owl.

_Screw it._ She'd show him. She wrote off her reply and sent it.

She'd said yes.

She plonked down onto her seat again, eager to continue wallowing in her misery when she felt someone sit down beside her.

"Make it a whiskey. Double." He had a deep voice that was strangely familiar and Ginny turned to face him, her large brown eyes widening in shock as she recognised who he was.

"Malfoy?"

"The one and only." He replied, barely glancing at her. He gazed seemingly disinterested at the wall, ignoring Ginny. But he then shocked her when he said the following. "And what's gotten you, Weaselette, into such a state?" He turned to her, raising one eyebrow and Ginny could see that he was still arrogant, yet something had changed about him.

_But he's still just as handsome. _A small voice said in the back of her mind.

"It's none of your business!" she snapped, and then winced at how childish she sounded. "Sorry, rough day."

"That makes two of us." He said into his drink. "So what's gotten you into such a bother?"

Ginny didn't know whether she should be more startled that he, Draco Malfoy (who had made her life a complete misery in her school days at Hogwarts), was actually now conversing with her, or that he wanted to know what was bothering her.

And then before she could stop herself, in blabbering drunken sentences she told him the whole story: about her, Harry, Pansy, everything.

If she'd been sober, she probably would have died from embarrassment.

Malfoy smirked slightly. _So Weasley too._ He downed his glass before studying the girl beside him.

She was really quite pretty in an innocent kind of way. And she too was going to the wedding. Both of them completely devastated and single by the looks of it. Both of them would get plenty of stares. It was no secret that Pansy and Draco had once been very involved and even he knew that Ginny and Harry had been close. He didn't think he could bear the humiliation. He didn't want Pansy to think that he was still pining for her too. He felt like showing both of them that he was fine, more than fine. In a way, he almost wanted payback.

Malfoy suddenly found himself opening his mouth. "Weaselette, I have a proposition for you."

"Oh really?" she slurred miserably.

"Come to the wedding with me." He told her.

Ginny blinked. _Well that was certainly unexpected. _She shook her head slightly, trying to clear it. She was starting to feel really drowsy. Maybe she had misheard him. Her eyes started to close.

And before she passed out, she managed to utter, "Malfoy, I'm not interested."

He frowned at the slumped mass before him and felt an unfamiliar feeling start to well up inside him. _Pity._

He sighed and hoisted her up out the door.

"No, but I think you will be."


	2. Beginning

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing affiliated with the Harry Potter series – it all belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling. I wish it did but unfortunately it doesn't. So please don't sue.

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

_Beginning_

_-_

When Ginny finally came to, the first thought that ran through her head was, _where the hell am I? _It was now broad daylight and she was in a massive room that she had never seen before, and that could have held the whole of her apartment and The Burrow together. It was immaculately clean, with smooth white walls and antique furniture. It looked like it was some sort of living room.

Ginny tried to sit up but then winced as a shot of pain entered her head. She tried to remember what had happened: She'd entered a bar. She had had a few drinks – well quite a _few_ drinks to be truthful, and then she'd met someone and all was blank.

"Malfoy!" she gasped as she realised just who that someone was. He must have been the one who had taken her here, wherever here was.

She thought back over her encounter. He certainly had looked good, there was no denying that. And he seemed to have filled out physically in the muscle department. He had that magnetism about him that simply attracted women. And even in her drunken state she could tell that he seemed changed not just in his appearance, but in his personality as well, compared to his days as a pain-in the-butt Slytherin bent on making her life hell at Hogwarts. But where had he exactly taken her and why? She bit her lip. Nothing untoward had happened, had there? If there had, she'd kill him.

Ginny staggered to her feet and stumbled around the room, slowly making her way to the exit so she could find Malfoy and wring his neck, assuming she could avoid the need to throw up first.

This search was soon stopped short when the man in question appeared with a highly amused expression on his face. "Not feeling too well, are we?" he asked.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Where the hell am I?" she spoke bluntly.

"You're currently in my home." Ginny gave him a blank expression till he added, "The Malfoy Manor."

Ginny nodded her head in recognition but then shrieked, "I'm in your home! You actually brought me here! Just what exactly are you planning Malfoy?" She looked around for another exit but saw that Malfoy was blocking the only door.

"What am I planning?" he echoed in confusion, and then burst out laughing as he realised just exactly what she meant. "Weasley, if you think that _that_ was what I was intending, then you are seriously mistaken. The reason I brought you here was because I didn't know where you lived, and because you were passed out in the middle of a bar and I decided to take you somewhere safe before some drunken fool took advantage of you."

"Oh." Ginny said as his words sank in. It made sense, in which case, she should be thanking him. She knew he had changed, but thanking a Malfoy after all those years of being teased and picked on wasn't something that she wanted to do. "Thank you, Malfoy." She bit out with distaste.

Malfoy shrugged. "It was nothing."

They stood there in silence for a few moments, both unsure of what to say. Ginny was truly thankful to Malfoy, as much as she didn't want to admit it. And he seemed so different; it was more evident now than last night. He still called her by her last name, true (but then she still called him by his last name too), but there were no taunts there, no more _Weasel_ or anything like that. She tried to think about what she had heard of him after the end of the war with the defeat of Voldemort. She'd still been dating Harry at the time, and he'd been very impressed with Malfoy – apparently he'd helped out. Him and his father had been working undercover for Dumbledore, or something like that.

Ginny was interrupted from her thoughts when Draco finally spoke. "I think I have a proposition for you that you might be interested in."

Ginny frowned, maybe he wasn't as changed as she had thought. What exactly was this proposition? Was he trying to come on to her? Oh Merlin. "Malfoy," she spoke clearly before he could say anything else. "If you want to have sex with me then the answer is no. I'm still pure thank you very much, and don't plan on changing that with you." Her head hurt more than before.

Malfoy looked slightly agape. "Where would you get that idea from?" Then he thought of something. "Pure? Are you saying that you're still a virgin Weasley? Even after all those years with Potter. No wonder he left you." He spoke the last part so softly but Ginny still heard it.

She froze as he brought up that painful subject. "Get lost, Malfoy. Just leave me alone."

She slumped back into her chair, her head in her hands. Malfoy shifted, trying to think of what to say. He hadn't meant to come off that harsh.

"Sorry, Weasley."

Ginny's eyes widened. Malfoy had actually apologised to her. Well that was a first. Malfoy could see what she was thinking and rolled his eyes. "A lot of things have changed since I left school you know." He paused. "And you might want to take some anti-hangover potion before you get any more crazy ideas into your head. Me proposing sex with you, honestly." He smirked as he produced a small bottle. "Here, drink this."

Ginny survey the bottle suspiciously.

"Go on, it's just an anti-hangover potion, nothing more. It'll make you feel better."

Ginny slowly drank it, watching Malfoy's face as she did so. He had better be telling the truth.

A few seconds later Ginny's headache had disappeared and she felt wide awake. "Thanks Malfoy, I feel much better." She inwardly gaped; she'd just thanked Malfoy. This had to be one of the most bizarre days of her life.

"Back to this proposition, Weasley. Apparently both you and I have suffered from severe break-ups."

Ginny nodded.

Malfoy continued, trying to figure out just exactly how he should phrase this. "And now our exes, Potter and Pansy, are getting married to each other."

She slumped at the reminder. She suddenly felt like drinking again.

"And they both expect us to just turn up at the wedding, single and miserable. In fact, everyone expects that."

Ginny again nodded dismally.

"Well then why don't we team up, go to the wedding together, and show them all that we're perfectly fine without them. Have some sort of revenge."

What Malfoy said made sense. In fact, she liked the idea. But there was one slight problem Ginny had with it. "Just what exactly do you propose we do?"

"Pretend that we're dating and completely in love, of course." He said calmly, hiding his nerves. It had seemed like a good idea when he had first thought of it, but he wasn't so sure now.

Ginny on the other hand mulled over what Malfoy had just said. Should she? She desperately didn't want Harry to think that she was still dateless after all this time. That she was still pining after him. He didn't need an extra ego boost. She wanted to show him, she wanted to show her family who always constantly reminded her of her failure to keep a man (basically, Harry), and who always supported _him_ during their break-up when she was the one who needed support the most. Yes, she'd show them all and have fun doing it.

"Yes." She agreed.

Malfoy looked startled. "Yes? You actually agree?"

"Yeah, I want to show people that I'm not just some desperate female who has no life without Harry." She even looked surprised at what she said herself. "I want to prove them wrong. And so do you, it seems."

"Fine."

"Fine."

There was another pause. "Well I guess we had better shake hands on it, seal the deal, that sort of thing." Malfoy suggested and he extended his hand.

Ginny gingerly held out her own and shook it, sucking in air when she felt something electric flow through her as her small soft hand touched his strong hard one. Malfoy didn't seem to feel it, and just shook her hand, but Ginny couldn't help but notice that there was just something _right_ about this. She then shook her head to clear her thoughts, it was just the alcohol from last night talking, there was probably still a remainder there even after the potion. _This is nothing more than a business deal, and never will be anything more_, she told herself.

"Well, I guess this is a deal then… Draco." She spoke his first name hesitantly; she'd never called him that before. Seeing the amazed expression on his face, she added, "If we're going to pretend we're going out, then we're going to have to call each other by our first names."

"You're right. It's a deal then… Ginny." He said gently. She felt slightly unnerved hearing him say her first name, yet she kind of liked it.

And she could tell that the month leading up to the wedding, was going to be a very interesting one indeed.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you very much for the awesome reviews! 

**Replies:**

jubli pebble: Thanks for reviewing. I think this chapter pretty much answers your question about Malfoy and how he convinces Ginny.

CCoLoMBiAnMaMi11: Cool, I sure will. Thanks for the review.

Tomsgirl2005: They definitely do fall in love! Thanks for reviewing!


	3. Telling

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing affiliated with the Harry Potter series – it all belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling. I wish it did but unfortunately it doesn't. So please don't sue.

**Author's Note: **This chapter introduces a few more old characters from the Harry Potter series. If any characters seem a bit OOC, it's because seven years have passed since they left Hogwarts – and as we all know, people can change during that time.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

_Telling_

_-_

Ginny removed her hand from Draco's awkwardly. She smiled nervously at him. "We'll have to come up with some sort of story."

"Story?" he echoed.

"About how we met. And we have to know each other's interests and stuff before we go to the wedding if we're going to make people believe we're err… dating."

Draco cocked his head. "You're right. The wedding is in a month so we still have plenty of time."

"The wedding's in a month but the actual proceedings start the week before. So we have to first make an appearance then."

Draco groaned at hearing that he had to be around the detested couple for more than one day, earning a startled look from Ginny. "I just didn't really want to go to the wedding at all in the first place but I was forced." He admitted, surprising himself.

"I didn't either, but there's not that much we can do about it now! On the plus side, imagine their faces when they see that we're together." She laughed, trying to keep the mood light, and he joined her.

Ginny liked how open his face looked when he laughed. He radiated warmth for once.

However, Ginny soon stopped laughing when she noticed the time. "Merlin – it's 8:00am! I'm going to be late for work."

"You work on Saturdays?" he asked, curious as to what it was she actually did for a living.

"Every so often. I'm a Medi-witch at Diagon Hospital."

Draco nodded his head in recognition at the name. "For the record I'm an auror."

"Really?" she said interestedly, but then shook her head. "Sorry, we have to talk about this some other time, I've got to go." She then paused for a moment. "Do you think you could show me the way out?"

Draco led her down a series of corridors till they were suddenly outside the stone white majestic mansion. "You can apparate from out here." He told her.

"Okay. And um, thanks for looking out for me yesterday."

"It was nothing. We should meet soon to further our discussion. This Friday night perhaps?" he suggested.

Ginny bit her lip. It was almost like he was really asking her out on a date. But then she reminded herself the reality of the matter. "Sure. My place or yours?"

"Mine, I guess. At least we both know where it is."

"Fine." She turned away, preparing to apparate but before doing so, she said one last thing. "By the way, I live in an apartment on Firebolt Lane." And then she was gone.

Draco stared at the place where she had once been, oddly looking forward to their next meeting.

* * *

On Monday, Draco revealed all about Ginny and his proposition to Blaise. 

"Are you for real?" he asked, but when he looked at the expression on Draco's face he knew that he was. "All right then." He laughed. "This should be interesting. I'm actually really excited about the wedding now."

Draco threw him a dirty look. "You have to make sure you tell no one about it Blaise, not even Hermione." He scrunched up his name in distaste at the mention of the once-Bookworm, who during their final year of schooling, had fallen head over heels in love with Blaise, and it was the same for him. Nobody had been more surprised however, than the remaining members of the Golden Trio when they found out about the liaison. Everyone had expected Ron and Hermione to get together, but somehow Blaise and Hermione had noticed each other and that was it. Four years later they had finally gotten married. _And it was about time, being around those two lovebirds was sometimes absolutely sickening._ Draco winced.

Blaise mock-pouted. "Okay, I won't. I'll act like you two are dating for real. That Ginny's quite a looker." He gazed at Malfoy pointedly, who in return made a half-hearted swipe at his head.

Little did they know that a similar situation had already been carried out involving said auror's wife.

-

Ginny too at work as soon as she saw fellow Medi-witch Hermione Granger (well now really Zabini) during lunch break, told her everything about what had happened with Malfoy.

Hermione laughed in a manner similar to her husband's. "It'll be hilarious just to see Harry's reaction."

"You can't tell anyone that it's all pretend Hermione. Or even that we're dating yet. It's to be a surprise."

"I know, I know. Trust me, I think Harry does deserve a little payback after what he did to you." She looked at her with understanding and Ginny knew why she was her closest friend. Hermione knew exactly what Ginny was feeling all the time and had always stood by her even throughout the redhead's messy break-up. "You know, I've never been that close to Harry ever since he took up with Parkinson." She looked over the work form she was filling out in distaste, her once bushy brown hair (and now lightly curly) falling into her eyes not unattractively. "He's not the nice little Gryffindor he once was. It's a shame really."

Ginny shrugged. "It's going to be pretty painful though."

Hermione put an arm around her friend's shoulder. "You deserve better and you know it. And from what I've heard, Malfoy has changed a lot from the slimy git he once was. Now he's just a git." She joked.

"He has certainly changed. He's so – so – so." She struggled for words and Hermione grinned with amusement.

"Unbearably hot?" she supplied.

"Hey, you're a married woman. What would Zabini say?" Ginny teased.

And the two continued joking in a similar manner, all serious talk forgotten, for the rest of their break.

* * *

Friday evening soon rolled around and Ginny found herself cautiously knocking on Malfoy's front oak doors. She had debated for over an hour beforehand on what to wear, before mentally scolding herself that she shouldn't care what she looked like because her and Malfoy were never going to be anything more than friends – if you could even call them that at this point. In the end she had selected on wearing a knee length beige skirt and white shirt. Conservative but classy. 

She waited patiently as the door was opened by a small house-elf. "Master Draco is this way." He informed her, not even bothering to ask for her name. He brought her to a large dining room where she saw Draco was waiting for her, who was looking incredibly handsome as always.

"I thought we might as well talk over dinner." He said, gesturing to the table currently filled with all sorts of food.

"Of course. Thanks for preparing everything." She spoke politely. In fact, both of them did. Apart from that last Saturday, they hadn't really had much to do with each other after Hogwarts. While at school, him being a Malfoy and her being a Weasley seemed to pretty much explain their code of behaviour towards one another. Yet now, now that they had made a deal together, now that they were in fact _allies_ as opposed to enemies, things had indeed changed.

"Would you like to take a seat?" Malfoy indicated for Ginny to sit down.

"Thank you." She said, then cringed at having thanked him again.

"We may as well eat first." He gestured towards the food and both slowly began to eat. There was a wide variety of food: seafood, meat, pasta, and so on.

_A lot of trouble must have gone into preparing all this_. She noted.

As if reading her thoughts, Malfoy confessed, "I wasn't too sure what you liked to eat so I got a bit of everything."

"It's great. I like pretty much most foods." She revealed.

"Same here, though there is one thing I can't stand – asparagus."

"No way! Me too." And from there on the ice was broken and they continued talking for the rest of the evening. They told each other a lot about themselves.

Both confessed that they hadn't seriously dated someone since Harry/Pansy.

"My friends would try and set me up with their male friends but it just wouldn't work." Ginny told him.

"I had a similar situation. Any single available girl Blaise could find he tried to get me to date. It was a disaster."

Ginny was amazed throughout the evening to see how much they had in common with each other. There was just some connection there that made her feel as if she had known Malfoy for a lot longer than she actually had.

The only thing they avoided talking about was Harry and Pansy.

Ginny was interested to hear about Draco and his father and how they had been working undercover for the Order for years. "We may be one of the Wizarding World's oldest and snobbiest families but we're no racists." He said in referral to her questioning about his common taunts towards muggle-borns. "I think you'd like my father if you met him."

Ginny tilted her head, trying to believe what for so many years she thought to be untrue. "Where are your parents at the moment?"

"They're currently on holiday in Spain but they're going to return for the wedding."

It was soon approaching midnight and Ginny was preparing to leave. Both agreed to meet again next week to work more on their plan. They made their way outside and came to a stop, facing each other.

"Well, tonight was great." She beamed, her attractive face highlighted in the moonlight.

"Yeah, it-" Draco began to reply, but whatever he was going to say was cut off due to the arrival of a certain someone.

"Draco darling! How good it is to see you!" A woman ran up to Draco and threw her arms around him dramatically, her accent indicating that she was French.

_Of course Draco was already involved with someone else._ Ginny balled her hands into tight fists. _Who on earth pays nightly visits to members of the opposite sex apart from lovers?_

Draco had lied to her about not having a real girlfriend since Pansy, for whatever reason. He was most likely still the same rat from school – he probably deliberately wanted to string Ginny along, all the while laughing at how foolishly stupid she was behind her back. She felt a sudden surge of anger.

But then Ginny caught a glimpse of the woman's face and stood back shocked when she saw who it was.

"Fleur?"


End file.
